Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Lee Slikkers on July 29, 2012, 05:59:15 pm
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Just curious what folks think who have worked both...I am relocating south of my current location by about 60 miles and the area I am settling in has tons of decent Mulberry and Hackberry.
Thanks!
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I like mallberrie best but It might because I've built way more mallberries. But my hackberrie bows came out good also.
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Both make very good bows. The hackberry is a whitewood but the mulberry wouldn't necessarily be considered whitewood. You can build a bow from what is under the bark but your best bow from mulberry will come from all heartwood. Treat it like osage but make it 10% bigger all around.
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Besides osage (and lowes red oak boards) those are the main two woods I make bows out of. Like pat said mulberry ain't really a white wood, but can be treated like one when making a bow if ya want. Although it does tend to have alot of pin knots, that sometimes give me trouble. Wheres as a hackberry tree doesn't even know the meaning of the word knot. Hackberry is about the most dependable wood for making bows you can find I would think in terms of consistency from tree to tree, most are all straight with few limbs till the top of the tree with no knots. If I could only have one it would be hackberry. If I was going to make a sinew backed bow though, mulberry seems to be good at that.
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I've used both ... Hackberry is the move forgiving of the two I think and very light weight and easy to work.. The Mulberry I used was very much like Osage and much harder wood than Hackberry. My shoulders LooooVeeeee Hackberry :)
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Thought Mulberry was a cousin to osage?
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Tough choice. I enjoy working with mulberry since its coarse and straight grained. Hackberry, like elm is often inter-locking making it harder to split and work. Hackberry is durable and light but also has a higher degree of shrinkage. Both make great bows.
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Wow, thanks for all the great input on the topic Gents! I did recall that Mulberry wasn't a true whitewood shortly after I hit the post button but alas...it was sent.
Being that I have a ton of Osage and Mulberry is a cousin I think maybe I'll give the Hack a shot since I've heard lots of positive things from other threads and it seems to have a pretty good endorsement from most of you. Or maybe I'll find a smaller diameter tree of each and try them both...what I did find on my walk on some property I can harvest trees from is a huge old (for MI) Yew with very large diameter branches that are clear of twigs and small branches. There are at least 5 maybe 6 bueno limbs that kind of got me drooling at the sight of them >:D
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Hackberry, because I just started one. I like mulberry, over build like pat said. I think it was one of the Thompson brothers (Maurice) that swore by mulberry as the best. If just whitewoods, bitternut hickory. Use what you got access to ;)
Tracy
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Thanks Tracy, I like the use what ya got BUT we do have access to a variety of nice wood in the area. Just need to jump in and try some of the stuff that is new to me.
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The little bit of mulberry I've cut and used around here, had really big growth rings and wasn't all that dense. Looks kinda like hedge but doesn't act like it. I suppose it'd make a fine ELB style though. I've heard others say they have more dense mulberry so maybe I shouldn't give up on it.
Hackberry is light but makes a pretty springy flatbow. Its a cousin of elm I believe. It wears out faster than a hedge bow but what self-respecting bowyer wears a bow out before they make three more?
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Lee I made an all sapwood mullberry that made 50#, not by much. Stick with heartwood as Pat suggested. That being said. Hackberry is twice the bow wood as far as Im concerned. Others have their own cpionions of course.
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Thanks PD, I think I am leaning more heavily towards the Hackberry...there are some really nice trees of it here in Berrien Springs.
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Hack away my friend...you got plenty of better " colored" heartwood to chase rings on. ;)
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Hack away my friend...you got plenty of better " colored" heartwood to chase rings on. ;)
8) >:D
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Heat temper for sure Lee.
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Just design it accordingly to its sg and give the belly a nice deep dark toasting....I've liked all the hackberry I've worked with(when I'm not a idiot and ask too much of it..lol) I did break one. :laugh:
Dang it pearly u made the warning pop up on me n beat me to the punch... :laugh:
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Roger on the "toasted evenly"
Another quickie for any of you Juniper - ERC guys...I have a real nice stick straight, no branches 6" dia ERC I want to harvest before I move from my house. I know the end need to be sealed up good but if I debark it (I assume it will be easier now vs later) do I need to seal the whole skinned log?
Thanks!
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Hehehehe...I know which ERC tree you are refering too. Heck yeah,cut that baby down before ya sell it. Id just leave the bark on,cus I like making backed bows with it and it really doesn't matter if your not careful removing the bark. And that way you won't run into any checking issues on the back. Plus its sticky sappy stuff...up to you either way just seal for peace of mind if you do debark it after cutting. But remember it dings easy,so leave the bark on cus you'll be moving it around.
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Thanks Blackhawk! Yup, you know the sucker I'm talking about...I might have gotten another 1/4" girth out of it by letting it grow since you were here. Good points about the bark and moving issues...I will likely (99% certain) sinew back the bows out of it anyway as I want a sexy pink heartwood sinew back rocket launcher to play around with. >:D
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Like this one >:D
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=30629.0
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Yup, just like that...just cut it down but I can't say I am impressed with the amount of heartwood...seems a 50/50 ratios of sap to heartwood :-[
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The little bit of mulberry I've cut and used around here, had really big growth rings and wasn't all that dense. Looks kinda like hedge but doesn't act like it.
Thats how alot of the stuff around here is. 3/4" thick rings and very very light. But I have also cut some smaller mulberrys that had very tight rings and have been very dense good bow wood. I think, if you can find a mulberry that has grown slow, it will make make good dense compression strong bow wood. But the stuff, like the big fat trees in wet land and by creeks, grow very fast with fat rings and end up being light wood. It's better finding a muberry tree on the top of a dry hill, where all the water drains down and it's roots can't suck up water as fast...
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You'll have that with erc from time to time....you should still have enough heartwood if you decrown the sap mostly off and make it a short sinewed bow as you intend to do. Most the stuff I've cut out here in pa has only 3/4"-1" of sapwood in it.
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Being that I have a ton of Osage ...
Want to get rid of some? I have a ton of empty space that needs to be filled with Osage. ;D
It's a shame I can't find any in Maryland. I did find a nice mulberry that was getting worked on near my job. I asked the guys for some pieces of it (they were SHREDDING THEM - it was horrible) and got a decent log. I also grabbed a rotten, dead limb that was full of bugs, but after removing the eaten parts, came up with a perfectly seasoned billet - which I'm going to make in to my first mulberry bow. See here:
(http://thatsmywebguy.com/hosted/images/photos/archery/mulberry_aged_1.jpg)
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Being that I have a ton of Osage ...
Want to get rid of some? I have a ton of empty space that needs to be filled with Osage. ;D
It's a shame I can't find any in Maryland. I did find a nice mulberry that was getting worked on near my job. I asked the guys for some pieces of it (they were SHREDDING THEM - it was horrible) and got a decent log. I also grabbed a rotten, dead limb that was full of bugs, but after removing the eaten parts, came up with a perfectly seasoned billet - which I'm going to make in to my first mulberry bow. See here:
(http://thatsmywebguy.com/hosted/images/photos/archery/mulberry_aged_1.jpg)
Nice billet! I should sell some Osage, could use the moving $ but only heavens knows when I'll have the energy to go harvest some again any this stuff is just getting seasoned enough for honest use now.
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Like this one >:D
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=30629.0
Here are a few quick pics of the victim...about 6' long and 5"-6" diameter.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-f2kuv31poPo/UBberEoTHAI/AAAAAAAAEpk/GTheJQHoi5o/s855/CIMG2709.JPG)
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-pSB4kRW1W0E/UBbe0KfB2oI/AAAAAAAAEps/pvjETeQkW6o/s855/CIMG2710.JPG)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-cyTCCh4wmRo/UBbe_lcdhcI/AAAAAAAAEp0/FGdzkCT55vs/s855/CIMG2711.JPG)